Özgür Gelecek reporter Taylan Özgür Öztaş arrested in house raid, ETHA reporter Tunahan Turhan arrested while covering demonstration in Kadıköy

Taylan Özgür Öztaş, a reporter for Özgür Gelecek newspaper, was arrested on 22 August 2019 in a midnight police raid on his home in Istanbul. He was arrested based on the claim that he took part in a demonstration on 20 August in Kadıköy in protest of the government-appointed trustees of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van.

Another Istanbul-based journalist, Tunahan Turhan, a reporter for the Etkin news agency (ETHA), was also taken into custody in Istanbul on 22 August. Turhan was detained following a criminal record check by the police in Kadıköy. The reporter was in Kadıköy to cover a demonstration by the HDP’s local branch in protest of the removal of Diyarbakır, Mardin and Van mayors from office.